I am proud to join the great team at Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks. For the past seventeen years, I have practiced almost exclusively in the Mount Laurel (affordable housing litigation) arena, representing municipalities from Englewood Cliffs to Cape May and all points between. In Ocean County, for example, I have represented Berkeley Township, Toms River, Brick, Pine Beach, Beach Haven, Ship Bottom, Beachwood, Barnegat, and Eagleswood, all as Special Mount Laurel counsel.
The Mount Laurel doctrine involves a small, complicated, and controversial niche in New Jersey jurisprudence. However, these cases often involve other legal issues, such as redevelopment, condemnation, general land use and master planning, OPRA, the Open Public Meetings Act, appellate practice, statutory and regulatory interpretation, and so on. As such, I have considerable experience in numerous areas of the law, all of which impact the decision-making analysis and the legal advice I provide to governing bodies, planning and zoning boards, administrators, other attorneys, planners, and other municipal representatives.
Like several of the partners in the Firm, I also gained broad business experience prior to becoming an attorney. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for eleven years I worked on Wall Street for Morgan Guaranty Trust Co., marketed insurance products and annuities for Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co., and was an executive recruiter for some of the largest insurance companies in the world.
I also worked for several years at Johnson Industries, which specialized in road-building and other heavy construction, milling, recycling asphalt, concrete, and tree stumps, and other related industrial activities. During that period, I experienced a broad range of matters, including complex litigation, DEP and OSHA issues, public contract bidding, real estate transactions, limited partnership law, and the sale and purchase of heavy equipment. After proving myself as a diligent, detail-oriented employee, I was encouraged to attend law school, which prompted me in 1999 to enroll at Seton Hall Law School, the first step in my rewarding legal career.
As a member of the Toms River community for most of my life, I am pleased to be practicing law where my roots lie. As a member of the Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks team, I will bring my broad legal experience, work ethic, and deep ties to our community to an outstanding group of attorneys, administrators, and staff whose primary mission is to provide the highest quality, and cost effective, legal advice to our clients.
Experience:
• Intern for Robert J. Novins, Esq., Toms River, 2000
• Appellate Division Law Clerk for Hon. James M. Havey, P.J.A.D. – 2001-2002
• Lomell Law Firm, Toms River – 2002 – 2005
• Jeffrey R. Surenian & Associates – 2005 – 2020
Civic and Professional Organizations:
• Toms River Regional Board of Education (past President and Vice President) – 2003-2015
• Pine Beach Planning Board – 2003
• Toms River South Alumni Association (Founder and Past President) – 2016
• Pine Beach Borough Planning Board – 2002 to 2003
• Beachwood/Pine Beach Little League (Coach) – 2014-2015
Scholastic Honors:
• Finalist – Seton Hall Law School Moot Court Competition (2000-2001)
• Best Brief – National Moot Court Competition (2001) – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Law School
Athletic Honors:
• Inductee – New Jersey ASA Softball Hall of Fame – 2018
• Inaugural Inductee – Toms River Sports Hall of Fame – 2006
• Inductee – Toms River South Baseball Hall of Fame – 1998
